(no subject)
From March 29th to April 1st, 2007, five boys locked themselves away on a secluded farm, surrounded only by the forest of Bunyip State Park. Over these few days they planned on recording a 5 track EP that would be released in the Winter of that very same year. When they left for the farm the EP was as yet untitled. By the time they came home they knew that it would be known as ‘Together We Have Grown, Together We Shall Bloom’. The isolation that they put themselves in meant that they were able to work without the distractions of the internet, phone contact or any external factors.
RECORDING DAY 1 - MARCH 30th 2007.
Today we woke late and went to meet Pete Shepherdson (who would be recording and mixing the EP) and lead him to our hideaway in the forest. Upon his arrival we unloaded his car (including his ridiculously heavy Fender Twin that we would be using for the recording) and began to set up to lay the guide tracks for the EP. Soon after we were to discover that recording each instrument track separately meant that the recording process involved a lot of sitting around reading books and zines, watching the R.A.M.B.O. DVD and going for walks in the forest. If nothing else this time was somewhat of a necessity after the past six months of hectic touring and Summer drinking. While the rest of us were lazing around, James was finding that drumming with the guide tracks was perhaps even harder than drumming without them, and so he embarked on the very trying process of keeping himself in time for our 6 minute tracks.
After a dinner of vegan stir-fry, courtesy of Sheppo, James was able to finish the final two songs and we moved from the spacious, wooden walled gallery room into the much smaller carpeted room to begin recording the first of the two distorted guitars. For the rest of us it was time to sink a few Coopers on the balcony in the freezing cold.
RECORDING DAY 2 - MARCH 31st 2007.
The laziest among us (read: myself) were woken to the first chords of our EP opener being recording in a room just down the corridor. When I’d given up on trying to sleep through it I discovered that this morning we had hot water and that the rest of the band had been enjoying the day for some hours now. By lunchtime we’d completed the first of four guitar sessions (which called for a celebratory kick of the footy in the paddock). By mid afternoon we’d finished all the distorted guitars and it was time to remove the kit from the gallery room and set up to record the clean guitars on Pete’s hollow-bodied beauties. At dinner time we’d completed the guitar parts for two songs, and some among us were getting frustrated with timing and intricate recording processes. It was break time again. James, Tim and myself soon found ourselves deep in the forest, crouching under bracken than had been tunnelled only as high as the wombats that inhabit the area and crossing rivers on thin, slippery, water-logged fallen trees. We returned home to another home cooked vegan meal and, after watching the end of the Office Series 1, threw ourselves into the darkness of ‘Earth Hour’, eating our vegies by candle-light and passing the dark hour by playing word games.
By ten o’clock all the guitar parts had been completed and we could warrant cracking the top off the cheap bottle of vodka that we’d brought along with us (finally giving us an excuse to use the plastic shot glasses we stole from the Exeter in Adelaide). While the rest of us indulged in this Juzzy finally got his chance alone with Pete, with 10.45 seeing the first of the bass tracks layed down.
RECORDING DAY 3 - April 1st 2007
For James, Tim and I the day began with a mountainside stroll; for those less lucky - Cal and Juzzy - it was spent in the confines of a small room perfecting the sound of the bass distortion that would be used on the record. However, by lunchtime all guitars, drums and basses were back in their cases and it seemed like we were on the home stretch. As some of us watched ‘Guerrilla’, a documentary about the Synbionese Liberation Army, we were subjected ourselves to the interruption of Tim’s brutal vocal tracking from the end room. After double tracking some parts Tim was to be joined by first just Cal, and eventually the whole band for some added vocal parts. Finally there was only one thing left; saxaphone. By 3:15 on the Sunday we’d layed down all of the tracks for the EP, and all there was left to do was mix. But that’s another story…
--------------------
Yeah, recording fucking ruled.
Work sucks a whole lot, I'm going to work there flat-out until April 28 and then probably just work two days a week, maybe. Two eight hour days a week would be enough for me to live off, and I've got more than enough money to last me until I get back from overseas, so I'm thinking that'd be a good plan.
On Friday we had the 'Summer Winds Presents Suburban Revolution' festival thing at our place. The day was filled with mainly average bands (Look!Pond, Lindsay Lowhand, Captain Ahab, Young Romantics and Good God being the exceptions, I dug all of these) and a room full of obnoxious fucks who refused to show any form of respect to the venue. We had people drinking to get really drunk, smoking inside our house, arseholes vandalising the place both inside and out and to cap it off we had Spider Vomit (aka: worst band in Australia) playing last and being the rudest band I've ever had to deal with. Not the funnest of days (although getting baked with Juzzy, Tim and Matt for most of it made it considerably more bareable.
In contrast, the show on Saturday night reminded me why, as Jimmy said, "me, Sam, Pete and Michael have poured our hearts and souls into this place". We had five amazing bands playing (Consider This A Threat, Majorca, Boysclub, Arrows, Look!Pond) and a room full of really, really amazing people. You sort of come to realise how much you take the people in our scene for granted, but fuck, it's such a great community to be a part of. There's no bullshit involved. Dase made a handout for CTAT that basically summed up everything I was feeling - I've now stuck both sides of it above my bed. Ari brought his distro to the show, Pip brought her zines, people were drinking cups of tea, the bands were really appreciative to be playing the show, everybody respected the venue, there was no mess to clean up and I honestly had one of the best times I've had at a show in a while. Fuck the idea of a 'scene', this showed me that having a 'community' is about a million times as valuable.
Afterwards Timmy and I rode to Exile On Smith St to see Bang!Bang!Aids! and Assasination Collective. Both ruled, and BBA playing with two drummers was fucking incredible. Good night all round.
Sunday I mixed some of the record with Pete, did some washing, and came home to Mt Eliza. Milly and I watched Spirited Away (amazing, today we hired Howl's Moving Castle too, also amazing) and I've been home since.
Today I've been watching Louise Cyphre shows on YouTube and booking the tour and it's coming along nicely.
RECORDING DAY 1 - MARCH 30th 2007.
Today we woke late and went to meet Pete Shepherdson (who would be recording and mixing the EP) and lead him to our hideaway in the forest. Upon his arrival we unloaded his car (including his ridiculously heavy Fender Twin that we would be using for the recording) and began to set up to lay the guide tracks for the EP. Soon after we were to discover that recording each instrument track separately meant that the recording process involved a lot of sitting around reading books and zines, watching the R.A.M.B.O. DVD and going for walks in the forest. If nothing else this time was somewhat of a necessity after the past six months of hectic touring and Summer drinking. While the rest of us were lazing around, James was finding that drumming with the guide tracks was perhaps even harder than drumming without them, and so he embarked on the very trying process of keeping himself in time for our 6 minute tracks.
After a dinner of vegan stir-fry, courtesy of Sheppo, James was able to finish the final two songs and we moved from the spacious, wooden walled gallery room into the much smaller carpeted room to begin recording the first of the two distorted guitars. For the rest of us it was time to sink a few Coopers on the balcony in the freezing cold.
RECORDING DAY 2 - MARCH 31st 2007.
The laziest among us (read: myself) were woken to the first chords of our EP opener being recording in a room just down the corridor. When I’d given up on trying to sleep through it I discovered that this morning we had hot water and that the rest of the band had been enjoying the day for some hours now. By lunchtime we’d completed the first of four guitar sessions (which called for a celebratory kick of the footy in the paddock). By mid afternoon we’d finished all the distorted guitars and it was time to remove the kit from the gallery room and set up to record the clean guitars on Pete’s hollow-bodied beauties. At dinner time we’d completed the guitar parts for two songs, and some among us were getting frustrated with timing and intricate recording processes. It was break time again. James, Tim and myself soon found ourselves deep in the forest, crouching under bracken than had been tunnelled only as high as the wombats that inhabit the area and crossing rivers on thin, slippery, water-logged fallen trees. We returned home to another home cooked vegan meal and, after watching the end of the Office Series 1, threw ourselves into the darkness of ‘Earth Hour’, eating our vegies by candle-light and passing the dark hour by playing word games.
By ten o’clock all the guitar parts had been completed and we could warrant cracking the top off the cheap bottle of vodka that we’d brought along with us (finally giving us an excuse to use the plastic shot glasses we stole from the Exeter in Adelaide). While the rest of us indulged in this Juzzy finally got his chance alone with Pete, with 10.45 seeing the first of the bass tracks layed down.
RECORDING DAY 3 - April 1st 2007
For James, Tim and I the day began with a mountainside stroll; for those less lucky - Cal and Juzzy - it was spent in the confines of a small room perfecting the sound of the bass distortion that would be used on the record. However, by lunchtime all guitars, drums and basses were back in their cases and it seemed like we were on the home stretch. As some of us watched ‘Guerrilla’, a documentary about the Synbionese Liberation Army, we were subjected ourselves to the interruption of Tim’s brutal vocal tracking from the end room. After double tracking some parts Tim was to be joined by first just Cal, and eventually the whole band for some added vocal parts. Finally there was only one thing left; saxaphone. By 3:15 on the Sunday we’d layed down all of the tracks for the EP, and all there was left to do was mix. But that’s another story…
--------------------
Yeah, recording fucking ruled.
Work sucks a whole lot, I'm going to work there flat-out until April 28 and then probably just work two days a week, maybe. Two eight hour days a week would be enough for me to live off, and I've got more than enough money to last me until I get back from overseas, so I'm thinking that'd be a good plan.
On Friday we had the 'Summer Winds Presents Suburban Revolution' festival thing at our place. The day was filled with mainly average bands (Look!Pond, Lindsay Lowhand, Captain Ahab, Young Romantics and Good God being the exceptions, I dug all of these) and a room full of obnoxious fucks who refused to show any form of respect to the venue. We had people drinking to get really drunk, smoking inside our house, arseholes vandalising the place both inside and out and to cap it off we had Spider Vomit (aka: worst band in Australia) playing last and being the rudest band I've ever had to deal with. Not the funnest of days (although getting baked with Juzzy, Tim and Matt for most of it made it considerably more bareable.
In contrast, the show on Saturday night reminded me why, as Jimmy said, "me, Sam, Pete and Michael have poured our hearts and souls into this place". We had five amazing bands playing (Consider This A Threat, Majorca, Boysclub, Arrows, Look!Pond) and a room full of really, really amazing people. You sort of come to realise how much you take the people in our scene for granted, but fuck, it's such a great community to be a part of. There's no bullshit involved. Dase made a handout for CTAT that basically summed up everything I was feeling - I've now stuck both sides of it above my bed. Ari brought his distro to the show, Pip brought her zines, people were drinking cups of tea, the bands were really appreciative to be playing the show, everybody respected the venue, there was no mess to clean up and I honestly had one of the best times I've had at a show in a while. Fuck the idea of a 'scene', this showed me that having a 'community' is about a million times as valuable.
Afterwards Timmy and I rode to Exile On Smith St to see Bang!Bang!Aids! and Assasination Collective. Both ruled, and BBA playing with two drummers was fucking incredible. Good night all round.
Sunday I mixed some of the record with Pete, did some washing, and came home to Mt Eliza. Milly and I watched Spirited Away (amazing, today we hired Howl's Moving Castle too, also amazing) and I've been home since.
Today I've been watching Louise Cyphre shows on YouTube and booking the tour and it's coming along nicely.